The Little Things
by Mora Tempus
Summary: A series of Angeal/Zack drabbles for 100 themes challenge.
1. Chapter 1

The Little Things

Summary: A series of Angeal/Zack drabbles for 100 themes challenge.

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Square, I just traumatise the characters and give them back for therapy.

Ratings: K+

Warnings: No warnings as such, some shounen ai in some of them but its all fluff.

A/N: I am taking a break from writing longer things and settling into the drabble world quite comfortably for a while until I can kick my muses into something more full length. I will be posting 10 per chapter so its not too short.

Feedback is always welcome.

* * *

1. Introduction

It was only by chance That General Angeal Hewley was in the cadets locker room, searching for one of the newest arrivals who hadn't turned up for training.

On hearing a tap and a quietly muffled 'hello', he opened a locker that had been barricaded, not expecting his arms to be filled with a roughed up teen that merely grinned up at him as he tried to blow wild bangs from his eyes.

"Thanks, was gettin' stuffy in there," He said, his bright eyes belying the discomfort he was in.

Angeal raised an unimpressed eyebrow as he looked at the spiky haired teen, "And how did you end up in there?"

"I decided to get a bigger room than my dorm, the locker is perfect." He said sarcastically with a cheeky grin.

The General counted back from ten, it seemed that this kid would be more trouble than he was worth, he would give him a month before he wanted out.

"What is your name Cadet?" He asked, folding his arms across his chest patiently.

"Zack," He answered, "Zack Fair," He elaborated at the look he was given and graced it with his own wild smile, "Who are you?"

"_General_ Angeal Hewley," Although the exaggeration of his title didn't seem to put the teen off.

"General? Thats great. I love your sword. Is it heavy? Can I hold it? Where are you from?" He babbled on excitedly, bouncing on his feet just a little.

"Cadet!"

Zack paused mid bounce, his head cocked to one side curiously and Angeal was immediately reminded of a puppy.

"Where should you be right now?"

"Umm…not here?" He grinned sheepishly.

Angeal sighed exasperatedly, he'd give him a week.

"I'll go find out, see you later Angeal," He said and waved as he sprinted away.

That boy would be in front of Sephiroth's desk by the end of the day, he wagered with himself.

* * *

2. Love

Angeal didn't know when it happened, much less how, but he knew the feelings that stirred within him whenever his student looked at him with his typical grin, when he bit his lip as a show of uncertainty, or unconsciously bounced while trying to stand still as a display of his boundless energy.

He was falling for Zack.

He peered through the slightly open door of his student's room, Zack hated the dark and a lamp in the lounge was always left on for him. The teen looked so vulnerable and innocent laying in bed and sleeping so peacefully. He didn't want to disturb that peace and he returned to his own room.

"Angeal?" Zack looked at him as he picked the bits of cereal that he didn't like from his bowl, "You know if you like someone, should you tell them?" He asked, cocking his head curiously in the puppyish way he did.

"Only if you won't get hurt by it," He answered, giving him a disapproving look at the picking that he was doing with his food.

Zack bit his lip and smiled almost shyly, "I like…no…I love you." He leaned across the table to attack his mentor's lips with his own.

It wasn't the first time he'd stunned Angeal to silence, but it was one of the more memorable.

* * *

3. Light

How many SOLDIERs did it take to change a light bulb?

One to glare at it.

One to set it on fire.

One to get a TURK to do the job.

How many TURKs did it take to change a light bulb?

One to stare at it.

One to read a manual.

One to call maintenance.

No wonder nothing ever got done, Zack thought, grinning to himself as he replaced another fully working light bulb in Sephiroth's office with a dud.

He was having too much fun with this.

* * *

4. Dark

It was Zack's first night in his mentor's apartment, they'd agreed that Zack taking the spare room would be easier than Zack staying in his dorm and to be honest, the teen was preferring having the extra space. But it was late night and he was still tossing around in his bed, jumping at the slightest sound. He was terrified of the dark and doing the only thing he could think of, he stumbled through the darkness to seek out company.

It hadn't been so bad in the dorms because he was in a middle bunk and surrounded by others, so if anything was lurking in the dark, it would get the others first and give him a chance to get out. He'd lived in Gongaga and been out in the jungle and got lost as a kid, he'd spend a couple of days wandering aimlessly in the dark undergrowth, so his fear was well founded, so he felt.

The teen slipped into Angeal's room and found him asleep on his bed and he silently moved across the room to the other side and he curled up on top of the quilt, glad to just be near.

"Zack?" Angeal questioned tiredly, his eyes cracking open slightly, the mako in them shining a little in the darkness, "What's wrong?" He sat up in bed and wrapped the shaken looking youth in his arms a moment.

Zack bit his lip as he rested against the older, "I…" He felt so embarrassed for admitting this to his mentor, "Ihatethedark…"

Angeal blinked a moment and his expression softened after a few seconds as he deciphered the answer, "You could always leave your light on."

"Too bright," He grumbled.

"Then leave a lamp on in the lounge and have your door open," He suggested.

"'Kay," He mumbled around a yawn, but before Angeal could protest, he had fallen asleep and Angeal was content enough to hold him.

* * *

5. Seeking Solace

None of the hours of training or simulations had prepared him for the reality and brutality of fighting.

Mostly, he'd just been glancing off blows while others dealt the killing ones, but as he'd turned around, his blade sliced through someone's neck and he'd stared the man in the eyes as the head rolled clean off his shoulders.

He'd accidentally killed one of his own.

The young Second choked on another sob as he rocked himself, the memory replaying over and over, completely ingrained on his mind.

Angeal entered the apartment, the only sound was that of the sobbing teen and he was at the youth's side immediately, wrapping him in a tight hug. The boy was too gentle; he'd wanted to save him from the horrors of battle but such a thing was impossible for someone of Zack's skill. It had hit the teen hard, even harder that in the heat of the battle it had been one of his comrades.

The elder spent all night and the next day, just holding the teen, offering what comfort that he could, wishing that he could take the pain away from him.

* * *

6. Breaking Away

Listening to Genesis was one of the hardest things that he had ever had to do, but the decision that he was forced to make was even harder. He'd listened to his redheaded friend ranting in his madness and he couldn't help but feel the need to be with him and help him find a way through this madness. He just wanted his Genesis back.

To do that, he needed to leave everything he had behind, that included his puppy; when he suggested to his volatile friend that he would bring both Zack and Sephiroth with him, the redhead exploded at him and threatened to kill them all if he even thought about it. So it was with great reluctance and guilt that he ordered Zack to escort the Director to safety so he could make his escape with no witnesses.

Zack was strong, he would survive well enough without him, but he couldn't help but worry all the same.

* * *

7. Heaven

If there was anything better in life than this moment, then Zack didn't want to know.

He'd just passed into Second Class and he was sure he'd never seen Angeal prouder of him, and he'd been given some time off before he joined the Seconds in training and Angeal, being the greatest guy ever that he was had taken him to the Golden Saucer.

He'd dragged his ever patient mentor on every single ride (even the little kiddies ones) and been on every machine in the arcade before going back on all of his favourite rides again and then for dinner, (which didn't seem like a good idea ten minutes after eating it so soon after going on rides). Now though his stomach had settled and he was happily wading his way through the huge bowl of ice cream he had ordered.

Angeal had said he could have whatever he wanted at his expense as a treat and he was certainly living up to the challenge.

* * *

8. Innocence

`Zack was in many ways still a naive kid from the backwater town of Gongaga, Angeal thought with amusement. After spending one afternoon alone with Genesis while Angeal had to go out, the teen was even more curious and insistent with his questions than usual, staring at Angeal wide eyed waiting for answers.

It was when Zack pulled out a book on Karma Sutra and started asking more awkward questions, did Angeal nearly choke on the beer he'd been drinking and swapped it for something that was a hell of a lot stronger.

He'd kill Genesis for bringing his things around and leaving them on purpose for the teen to find.

* * *

9. Drive

What did he have left to fight for?

Angeal was gone.

Sephiroth had shut himself off from everything.

He had no reason to fight on, to prove himself, for there was no one around that cared…he caught bright blue eyes staring at him across the mess and he smiled to the blonde that they belonged to as he moved over to him.

"Hey Cloud," He smiled.

The shy blonde muttered a 'hi' back to him with a small smile.

Zack was completely endeared by the kid, he was so shy and needed help if he was going to get into SOLDIER. Zack smiled to himself. This was what he had to fight for. He still was a SOLDIER, he still had his pride and honour and the cute little blonde that was smiling at him.

* * *

10. Breathe Again

Zack watched Cloud's face through a haze of bloody tears, the look on his face was far more agonising than the thousands of bullets passing through him had been. Cloud would be alright, he assured himself as he passed on his Buster, remembering when it had been him and Angeal in a similar position.

He wanted to stop it so he could be there for Cloud, the kid needed him after all they had been through and he couldn't just abandon him now. He knew that it was too late, he could already feel his body shutting down, the pain was slowly ebbing away and he was surrounded by a bright light.

He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as the feelings of uncertainty and fear for his friend were washed away, Cloud would be alright, he knew, His smile widened to a broad grin as he saw Angeal was waiting for him and he all but jumped into the man's arms, surprised at how solid he felt in their otherwise insubstantial surroundings.

The pain was gone, he knew everything would be alright, he was free again.

* * *

Is it worth me carrying on or have you all had enough already?

XD

Until next time

Morwenya

~x~x~


	2. Chapter 2

The Little Things Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, the faves and alerts etc, it is all greatly appreciated.

No warnings for this chapter.

Here's the next ten for you all.

Enjoy.

* * *

11. Memory

He still had memories and feelings that weren't his own.

Sometimes as he slept he saw the face that he didn't know and kind mako green eyes that looked at him with complete adoration and he felt nothing but pure love in return.

The intensity of the love was almost painful and heartbreaking as it often came with a sense of betrayal and loss.

How could Zack have loved someone that hurt him so badly?

Just another thing that Cloud would never know.

* * *

12. Insanity

What would Angeal have thought of this?

It was not the first time that Zack had asked himself this question as he made his way through the fiery town of Nibelheim.

Sephiroth had done this, he'd listened to Genesis' goading and locked himself away in the basement of the mansion, trying to find the truth from books that poisoned his mind.

Would this have happened if Angeal had been there?

He doubted it.

Angeal would have been able to talk sense into his friends and would have stopped things before it got anywhere near this far out of hand.

He wasn't Angeal.

He couldn't have prevented it.

* * *

13. Misfortune

If there was something in his path, he would probably walk into it or trip over it.

If there was something to the side of him, he'd move to avoid it and end up falling over something else.

The pavement seemed to jump out at him at every possible turn.

Such was the fate of the clumsy Zack Fair.

With this knowledge, Angeal had done what he could to make his apartment 'Zack proof', but still the teen seemed to knock into the table and send the lamp flying, bounce down onto a chair too hard and fall through it.

Zack would merely grin sheepishly and act like it never happened.

* * *

14. Smile

Smiles were rare.

There were the bright boyish grins when he was being cheeky.

There were the uneasy sheepish grins when he knew he'd been caught.

There were the smirks when he knew he was right.

There were the lips set in a thin line when he was seriously arguing something, usually in someone's defence.

There were the unhappy frowns when he heard that his lover wouldn't be getting home from his assignment.

There were the bites of his lip when he was uncertain about something, or nervous in a new situation.

But the genuine bright smiles seemed to be only reserved for him, usually first thing in a morning when he was still mostly asleep, or last thing at night when he was laying content in his lover's arms. Each time he saw them, they made his heart flutter like it hadn't for a long time.

* * *

15. Silence

Zack was always loud and would voice every thought he had, whether it was appropriate or not and it often got him into trouble. A perfect example was the other day when he'd met the President for the first time, he couldn't help but ask "shouldn't you think about getting a better fitting suit?"

There had been an amused snort from the young vice president, who immediately turned his head away to hide the grin from his father, who didn't seem to know _how_ to react to his brazen comment. The Director of SOLDIER had also disguised a laugh with a cough, hiding the grin behind his gloved hand.

Zack hadn't missed the amused sparkle in Angeal's eyes, although his expression remained impassive as he finished introducing him as one of SOLDIERs up and coming stars.

Sephiroth remained as stoic as ever, but Genesis had been grinning and nodding in approval.

"We were all thinking it," The redhead had told him later, just after he'd been assigned the worst duties for six months straight.

Next time, he'd try and keep his mouth shut.

* * *

16.  Questioning

Zack shifted uncomfortably under the scrutinising glare of the Turks opposite him. "I have already given my report!" He exploded, "I don't see what the hell I'm doing in here."

"Calm down man," Reno sighed, "I don't wanna be here any more than you do yo, but I got a job to do," He leaned back in his chair.

"Like I said, everything is in my report, you want answers, go and read that," Zack glared at his so called friend.

"Angeal Hewley has deserted Shinra," Rude said calmly, "You were the closest one to him…"

"Genesis was closer," Zack stated, "And so is Sephiroth, but I don't see you interrogating him!"

"The General…"

"Let me guess, he's no threat to deserting the company huh?" Zack growled, "What a load of crap," He growled and moved to storm past the Turks, only to get thrown back into his seat.

"You will leave Fair alone," Sephiroth stepped into the interrogation room, eying the Turks coldly, "He has given an official report in, any information that you want can be found in there."

Zack gaped at Sephiroth, he was really getting him out of this? The slight nod to the door being held open confirmed it and he left instantly, not staying around to hear the General's threats to the Turks.

* * *

17. Blood

"They just need a routine blood sample puppy," Angeal sighed in exasperation.

"Blood is supposed to stay on the inside, having it taken out is just _wrong_!" The teen exclaimed, refusing to leave the bathroom.

The elder was too tempted to break the door down, but he didn't want to have to explain the need to replace anything else so soon. "Just come out Zack," He was all but pleading. "If you come out I'll let you get out of Sephiroth's training session."

"Really?"

"I heard that he would be including laps."

"Laps?"

"Uh huh." The elder smirked to himself as he heard the tremor in Zack's voice, "Come on out and behave, then you won't have to be included." He promised.

"Really?"

"On my honour."

Zack was out only moments later and heading to the medical ward, five minutes after that he was passing out at the sight of his own blood.

* * *

18. Rainbow

Angeal would always regret the day he introduced his hyperactive puppy to materia.

It started out as any other normal training session in the VR room, with Zack bouncing up and down on his feet as he listened to the objective.

"Focus Zack," Angeal sighed, knowing it was useless, but then he had a thought and pulled out a materia orb and passed it in front of the younger's face; Zack's attention was on it instantly, following its every move.

"Shiny," Zack cocked his head to one side and Angeal momentarily thought of playing fetch with him instead of training.

The elder quickly pushed the temptation from his mind, "You are to try and use this materia effectively in battle," He told him firmly.

"Got it," Zack grinned and took the orb, holding it to the light with a bright grin, which turned to childlike wonder, "Look, it makes rainbows." He said excitedly, jumping up and down, whichever way he shined the materia, a rainbow would appear from it.

Angeal sighed, even Genesis hadn't been so bad.

* * *

19. Grey

He'd always seen the world in black or white. Good or evil. Right or wrong.

There had never been any middle ground. No wrong for the right reasons. No grey.

So why now?

He'd firmly believed that Genesis was evil. What he was doing was wrong. Then when he'd learned the truth, all of that changed.

Genesis was only trying to survive with the knowledge of what had been done to him. He was only lashing out at those who had wronged him. He was getting revenge for what he'd been put through, even if it seemed the wrong way about it.

Was it possible that Shinra was the real evil for allowing such things to happen? Some of the things that were done, were probably evil, yet some people in the company were good.

It was a head hurting dichotomy of morals. Right against wrong. Good against evil. Black against white.

It all clashed into shades of grey.

There was no black or white. No good or evil. No right or wrong.

Only grey.

* * *

20. Fortitude

He was SOLDIER. His greatest strength was his honour.

Yet his greatest weakness was the wide eyed teen that was staring at him like a kicked puppy.

"Zack," He sighed and shook his head with a disapproving look, "How many more times must I tell you not to go running off ahead like that? Anything could have happened!" He ranted like a pissed off parent, fuelled on by the fear he could have lost Zack, "Ambushes! Traps! Monsters! Do you ever stop to think on the consequences of your actions?!"

"Sorry," Zack mumbled as he lowered his head to inspect his feet.

Angeal only had to look at him for two minutes before his resolve cracked and he gathered the teen in his arms, "Just don't do it again," He whispered, although he knew that would probably fall on deaf ears.

He was strong enough to cope with anything.

Except the possible loss of his puppy.

* * *

Reviews are welcome as always


	3. Chapter 3

The Little Things Chapter 3

A/N: here's some more for you all, although I'm not as happy with this set as the others. Some turned out alright but they just don't seem…right. Could just be a case of picky authoress.

Ah well, hope you enjoy them anyway.

* * *

21. Vacation

Zack was beyond furious. After the whole Modeoheim fiasco the last thing that he wanted was to be sent away and have nothing to do but think about what he had done!

That is exactly what had happened and he was hating it. He hated Sephiroth for allowing him to be sent to Costa on what the Director had said was 'a much needed vacation'.

More like Sephiroth didn't want to be near the one that had killed both of his best friends. Like he had done it on purpose. Genesis had seemingly _wanted _to die while Angeal forced him to fight and kill because he was too cowardly to kill himself.

Zack's fist went deep into the sand, creating a rather impressive hole and he kept pounding away at it, imagining it was the smug bastard of a General instead, and it made him feel a little better.

It was shortly after he'd calmed down that he saw Cissenei walking toward him.

Couldn't they leave him be?

* * *

22. Mother Nature

Angeal hated the mako city.

The only reason he was there because of Genesis.

He missed Banora.

He missed the open fields, rolling hills, the lush forest and the miles of caves they had yet to explore.

He missed it all.

After being so close to the natural world all of his life, to be suddenly cut off from it was stifling.

On his days off, he would always leave the city alone, to wander the grassy planes surrounding Midgar, but when Zack came into his life, he took the puppy with boundless energy with him in an attempt to wear him out.

The kid soon learned that being in the natural world was a good thing.

* * *

23. Cat

"Do you prefer cats or dogs, Angel?" Genesis reclined back in his seat, putting his feet on the coffee table, much to Angeal's annoyance and he slapped the redhead's legs off.

"Dogs," He answered instantly.

The redhead rolled his eyes, "But they are noisy, messy and they need a lot of care," He argued.

"But they are loyal and…relatively easy to train, given the right incentives." Angeal argued.

"Cats don't need looking after, they are very clean and you only know they are there when they want you to know," Genesis stated.

"But cats are more fickle and can't be trained as easily."

"Only if they are not treated right," Genesis shrugged, "Nothing of such grace and beauty should ever be tamed anyway."

"Hey guys," Zack burst through the door and all but pounced on Angeal, hugging him instantly in greeting.

Genesis grinned watching Sephiroth as he sat down beside him; the redhead wrapped his arms around him with a brief kiss, "I think he's having puppy trouble again, kitten, which proves my point," He grinned.

Sephiroth chuckled lightly and shook his head, unsure he wanted to know what they had been talking about.

* * *

24. No Time

There never seemed to be any time for anything these days where Angeal was concerned and Zack was at breaking point, he'd had enough of being palmed off to Genesis for training. It was about to come to an end, Zack thought as he phoned his mentor.

"Hewley," Angeal answered his phone.

"When the hell are you coming home?" Zack snapped at him.

A heavy sigh was his immediate response, "Zack, we'll talk about this later…"

Zack frowned into the phone, "It's always later with you," He stated, "But later is like tomorrow, it never comes!"

"Puppy…"

"No. If you don't want me anymore just say, stop avoiding me and pretending to have no time for me."

Angeal could almost see his puppy's expression and he sighed, "Puppy, I know things have been very strained lately, but with Sephiroth…not around, my work load is triple what it was," He sighed, "You can always come to my office Zack."

"'Kay," Zack mumbled quietly.

"I love you Zack," He reaffirmed and would have done so with kisses had they been in the same room, "Never doubt that and I am sorry that I haven't been paying attention to you lately like I should have been," He sighed, "I'll get Gen to do most of this and I'll have the day with you."

"But you said that you don't have enough time…"

"I will always make time for you," He assured with a smile.

* * *

25. Trouble Lurking

Wherever Zack was, trouble was sure to be one step behind him, or slightly ahead in the form of a monster about to attack.

Angeal knew this and he'd warned Sephiroth, who had wanted to take the teen out to assess his abilities himself. Sephiroth had thought that Angeal was just being over dramatic.

How wrong he had been.

Three holes and a wire trap later and Zack was having trouble keeping up the purposely punishing pace that Sephiroth had set, forcing him to run on a twisted ankle.

"Can't we have a break?"

"No."

"Aw come on…"

"I said no," Sephiroth said firmly, anyone else would have backed off, but Zack was Zack and he wouldn't be put off by anything.

"Well I am staying put until my ankle has eased," Zack said firmly and perched himself on a log and falling through it almost instantly, "This is surprisingly comfy," He muttered, looking around when he didn't receive an answer, Sephiroth had left him!

Surely things couldn't go too badly while he was on his own.

Right?

* * *

26. Tears

He'd cried only a handful of times and never in public.

He couldn't understand why Zack's bright watery eyes kept turning on him with such a heartbreaking expression.

He couldn't understand why he wanted to go to the teen and wrap him in his arms.

Maybe on some level he recognised the pain the younger was in, although he was incapable of showing it. They'd both lost the most important thing in their life and neither seemed sure on how to get over that.

It was when Sephiroth had gone to Angeal's apartment to sort his things out, he'd found Zack curled up on the bed around Angeal's pillow crying for him. Sephiroth was behind him instantly, acting more on his instinct to want to comfort the younger, rather than knowing what he was doing and he was pulling the teen into his arms silently, just holding him as his own tears started to fall.

* * *

27. Foreign

"Wha's this?" Zack poked at the noodles in his bowl, his head cocked to one side curiously, not knowing if he should eat it, play with it, or just throw it away.

"It is food puppy, you eat it." Angeal said with a sigh.

"Its breathing."

Genesis choked on the noodles he had been eating and inspected them, "I think he is right..." He murmured, pushing the bowl away, suddenly put off.

Angeal rolled his eyes, "There is nothing wrong with it, right Seph?"

"Mine's moving," Sephiroth commented as he pushed the bowls contents around with his chopsticks.

It was the last time any of them got anything from the Wutaian takeout.

* * *

28. Sorrow

There was definitely something wrong.

Angeal had been very distant and nearly completely silent for days, he wasn't sleeping much, or eating a lot, but when Zack tried to confront him, he'd just shut the teen out, hiding away under a sad cloud, not that Sephiroth had been much different.

Something was definitely wrong.

Zack didn't find out anything until nearly a week later when he was called into the Director's office with Angeal.

Genesis had gone MIA.

Angeal knew there was something more to it.

Zack found out that Angeal had known of his friend's plan to desert Shinra for some time, and that he'd face death if he was caught.

What made it worse was that Angeal was the one being sent to deal with his childhood friend.

* * *

29. Happiness

When Zack was in a good mood, to most he was unbearably hyper, although Angeal always watched on in amusement as he glomped everyone he came across.

His exuberant puppy had just passed into Second Class, and as he had stood among his peers being told, he would not stay still, lightly bouncing on his feet in excitement, then after the news had been delivered, he bounded onto the stage and nearly knocked a very surprised Sephiroth over, to everyone's amusement.

Angeal was laughing as he pulled them both up and although he lightly scolded Zack about appropriate behaviour, he couldn't quite get his tone serious enough as he watched his student, eyes brimming with pride.

* * *

30. Under the Rain

Zack fell to his knees sobbing as the rain poured and he gathered Angeal's body in his arms and he pressed his head against the other man's, but already the skin was starting to cool. "Angeal," He whispered as his tears were washed away by the rain.

He didn't know how long he had been out there, but both himself and Angeal were completely soaked. Zack didn't hear anyone behind him until there was a faint creak of wet leather behind him. Zack turned to see Sephiroth crouching down beside him.

"I'm sorry," Zack whispered, "He...he made me...had no choice...sorry..." He tried to apologise, but to his surprise Sephiroth wrapped him in his arms.

"I should not have allowed you to face them both alone," Sephiroth murmured quietly, he'd lost both of his friends in the same day in such a short space of time. Zack was the last remnant of Angeal, he would keep the teen close and safe.

Zack stared at the Silver General for a moment and he would always swear that it wasn't just rain that he saw trailing down his face as he stared at the body of his best friend.

* * *

See you next time


End file.
